This invention addresses the common problem for travelers who may need to wash and dry small garments, particularly undergarments and even hair pieces, in a hotel room that does not have basic washer/dryer laundry facilities.
Obviously, a traveler could hang such hand washed articles on a cord strung in a bathroom or other area; however, natural drying time may be inconveniently long, and if the environment is humid the article may not dry at all.
Numerous arrangements have been developed to utilize a common electric hair dryer, also called hair blower or dryer/blower, as a hot airflow source in attempts to dry wet garments in an area without a conventional electric tumble dryer. In one such arrangement there is a chamber which may be a garment bag into which a heated airflow is directed. A sampling of prior art arrangements is described below, each with its own functional features and limitations.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,757,586 to Miller et al. discloses a telescopically collapsible housing of square cross-section which is collapsible to a relatively thin box. This device does not use a portable hair dryer, and instead has its own heater, motor, fan and rotatable drum, and is quite large, heavy and expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,164,755 to Moore discloses a large vinyl bag with a suspension hook at the top, a slide zipper to receive a garment, and an opening at the bottom to receive a hairdryer outlet that directs a hot airflow via a restriction nozzle into the expansion space within the bag.
U.S. Published Application No. 2008/0184590 to Lozaro discloses a large portable collapsible clothes dryer for use with a blower. This device has a shell housing encompassing a collapsible wire frame, and in open state includes struts to support clothes hangers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,249 to Manning discloses an elongated bag that is suspended with a hair dryer blowing in at the top with a top collar structure to support clothes on a hanger. This bag is collapsible to a flat state.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,446 to Reesman discloses non-collapsible box housing with an inlet hole for a hair dryer nozzle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,538 to Little discloses a non-collapsible drum-shaped box with a hair dryer.